Dreamscape: Saving Alex

Chapter Twenty

"Wake up, Alex, we're here." Arrow shook my shoulder.

"What?" I jumped. I didn't remember falling asleep. One glance at Arrow's heavy eyes and the girls sleeping a few feet over from me told me we had traveled longer than I'd thought.

I rubbed my eyes. "What happened?" My voice squeaked as I looked down at my arms, covered in vines and blood.

I tried to shake off the vines, and noticed a pile of withered ones beside me. My face paled. "Arrow, what happened?" I repeated more insistently.

He knelt by my side, covering my hands with his. "Shhh...it's all over now," he said, helping me untangle the vines.

I bit my lower lip, but couldn't stop the tears from welling up. "I...I...thought I was..." The words wouldn't come.

"I wouldn't have let that happen to you. You know that, right?" he asked, tilting my chin up.

I wiped the tears with the back of my hand and nodded.

"When we saw the welts racing up your arms, we knew the acids in the dragon weed were in your bloodstream. We weren't sure we'd be able to heal you. How do they feel?" he asked, looking at my arms, then my face. "You scared me," he said, pulling me to his chest.

That was all I needed to hear. I fell into his arms and wept. Tears ran unbidden down my cheek. All my frustrations and fears blended together until every pain, sorrow, and question I had felt for the past month flowed out of me. My tears knew no discrimination, and I shed them until every ache that I held inside screamed at its release.

"You're going to be all right, Alex, I promise you," he whispered, brushing the hair off the back of my neck.

I pulled back and looked into his eyes, wanting to believe the sincerity staring back at me. I nodded towards the vines. "Do you think you could help me with one more wrapping?"

He reached behind me to where a fresh pile lay. Seizing the moment, I wiped the tears away and blew my cheeks dry.

"Does that feel any better?" he asked, looking at me expectantly as he wound the vines up my left arm. My arms soaked up the healing salve of the plant, and I relaxed.

I shook my hands and pinched my skin, forcing a smile. Besides a faint tingling sensation in my left arm and in my stomach, I seemed fine. I brushed the pile of vines out of the way to stand up. "I don't think we collected enough."

"I don't think the forest itself would be enough for you." He laughed. The tight lines on his forehead eased as he offered his hand for support.

"You're right. I'll probably have to live closer to the Wounded Woods." I matched his grin, and then my cheeks burned. What was I saying? Had I already forgotten where my home was?

"I'm sorry you had to fight those men on your own. I should've been there," he said.

"It was my own fault. I'm the one that ran ahead. But it's over now, and at least I've proven myself to your men."

"You've nothing to prove. We believe in you."

"Tell that to Cale," I said. "Your men needed to see that I'm committed to them and to the rebellion," I said, scrunching my forehead.

"Yes, but to risk your life—"

"You do it every day."

"Yeah, but I'm their—"

"And I'm supposed to be their hero," I said. "This at least paves the ground for them to accept me a bit more."

He tilted his head and looked at me thoughtfully before speaking again. "You're different than you were when you first arrived."